I have the same dilemma as you were few months ago. Are you still happy with your Musica after few months of use? I am in Dubai so I believe there is more support here for other brands. Although the price of Musica here with lux is cheaper than say Giotto Premium Plus which I find a bit amusing.

I have yet to inquire the price of Expobar Brewtus which is alson on my shortlist. The mini vivaldi seems to be on the expensive side as I received the quote from the retailer.

Well, it is true that with your being in Dubai, you have a number of options as opposed to my case.

Now, with respect to the NS Musica, I have owned it and used it for almost 6 months now and i couldn't be any happier. The quality of espresso as well as the milk froth is excellent and quite frankly, i'm not sure if i need anything more than that. I can confidently say that i'm no more enjoying Espressos and Lattes outside. In Kuwait, the support for NS is very good. I once called the dealer to arrange for a brew-head gasket replacement, next day at 9:00 AM it was all done with no questions asked. Thus far, i had no malfunction or issue with the machine whatsoever.

Now, since you are in Dubai, i would suggest you also check the R58 from Rocket. You may find it at RAW Coffee; Kim & Matt will give you a wholesome advise since they do also sell the Musica (as of few months ago when i visited them). I am sure they will bundle the machine with a sample of their exceptionally fresh coffee.

Whatever you end up deciding, my recommendation is to ensure you observe the regular cleaning procedures. Along with decent coffee beans, of course, this will guarantee you non-stop enjoyable espresso drinks.

I hope i managed to give you the feedback you were looking for. If you still have any questions, please feel free to contact me anytime.

Many thanks for giving your time to reply. I was in discussion with Matt of Raw Coffee (I buy roasted beans from them) but unfortunately their rocket espresso machines are quite pricey compared to European and US price (my reference in pricing). The good news is their NS Musica Lux costs the same as their Rocket Giotto Premium Plus (around 2170USD) which seems to be a no brainer for the La Musica Lux.

There is even better news. I have found another retailer of NS that offered me the Musica at less than 1600USD! I got an offer for NS MDX grinder for about 600USD! That means I paid for the Musica Lux and the MDX grinder for less than the price I had to pay if I purchased from Raw Coffee!

I was really looking for Eureka Mignon or Baratz Vario for my grinder bug the offer I got for MDX is very good. Anyway, I will need few more weeks to wait for my kit to arrive since most retailers do not have any stock.

May I also suggest that you consider purchasing the grinder online? I got my Eureka Mignon (doserless) online from Elektros in Italy for a total cost that is less than 50% of the quote I got locally. The Eureka Mignon is an excellent stepless, doserless grinder with an amazing build quality.

BTW, the only thing that held me from getting the Rocket R58 directly from the factory in Milan was the absence of local support. At that time, I got an excellent quote (€1750).

I wish you good luck and great experience with whatever setup you end up with.

In Kuwait, it is very hard to find some decent top quality coffee beans. Luckily, I travel frequently, so whenever I get the chance, I tend to bring in a KG or two. Last time, I had the pleasure of trying freshly roasted Ugandan beans. They were quite good. Whenever I'm in Dubai, I make sure I get RAW's Ethiopian Sidamo.

Other than that, I'm stuck with Illy's medium rost, which is alright, but not so fresh.

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